Elderly man pummeled at Warren psychiatric center

An 80-year-old man clung to life Wednesday after he was viciously beaten by a fellow patient at a Warren psychiatric hospital, police said.

The elderly Chesterfield Township resident had been undergoing inpatient treatment at Behavioral Center of Michigan, on 12 Mile at Ryan Road. Early Sunday morning, he was attacked by a 23-year-old man who was referred and transferred there following observation at a hospital for violent behavior following an unspecified encounter with police in the city of Wayne, Warren Police Commissioner Jere Green said.

Police officers and paramedics responding to a 911 call from the psychiatric treatment facility found the victim unconscious. He was taken to William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, where he remains in critical condition. He suffered several skull fractures, multiple cuts and severe damage to an eye, police said. Some of the victim’s teeth were knocked out during the attack.

“This guy suffered massive head trauma. It was very violent,” Green said.

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The suspect, Jajuan Whitlow, of Canton, was arraigned Monday in 37th District Court on a charge of assault with intent to commit murder. He is held in the Macomb County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bond set by Judge Matthew Sabaugh. A preliminary hearing to determine whether he should stand trial is scheduled for Feb. 5.

Warren Deputy Police Commissioner Lou Galasso said a police officer in Wayne, in western Wayne County, encountered Whitlow on Jan. 25 and determined the Canton man “was a danger to himself or others.”

Wayne Police took him to Oakwood Hospital for psychiatric evaluation. Whitlow was transported to the Behavior Center of Michigan late Saturday or early Sunday, police said.

Green said some staff and patients at the psychiatric center witnessed the brutal, prolonged beating, which was reported at 2:10 a.m. Sunday.

“Even though it’s not my role to analyze private entities’ security protocol, it is my responsibility to ensure that innocent people like this elderly gentleman doesn’t become a victim of crime because he was placed in a situation out of his control,” the city’s top police administrator said. “We’re still looking at how it occurred that they ended up in the same room.”

Whitlow has made no statements to police about the incident, officials said.

The Macomb Daily attempted to get a comment from the Behavioral Center of Michigan. A man who answered the phone late Wednesday afternoon referred a reporter to CEO Ryan Gunabalan for comment. Gunabalan was not available. Messages left for him and a human resources representative were not immediately returned.

Behavioral Center of Michigan is owned by T & G Corporation, according to state records. The company last filed a report with the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs in 2010, listing Robert Clemente as the resident agent. In the 2009 annual report, Clemente was the only corporate officer.